Five Nepalis held, suspected of sacrificing 10-year-old boy

KATHMANDU, July 26 (Reuters) - Five people have been
arrested and face charges of murdering a 10-year-old boy in
southwest Nepal, police said on Sunday, in an incident media
reports said was a suspected case of human sacrifice.

Police official Nal Prasad Upadhyaya said the decomposed
body of Jivan Kohar, who had been missing for three days, was
recovered from a bush on Friday in Kudiya village in Nawalparasi
district, which borders India. The boy's throat had been slit.

The Kathmandu Post said the father of a sick man had
confessed to the killing "to chase away the evil spirits" from
his ailing son after seeking advice from a village shaman.

He lured the boy with the help of neighbours to an isolated
place by offering biscuits and promising to pay him 50 U.S.
cents. He then performed a religious rite, killed the boy and
dumped his body in a bush, media reports said.

All five will be charged with murder, Upadhyaya said.

More than 80 percent of Nepal's 28 million people are
Hindus. Many frequently sacrifice animals like goats, buffaloes
and roosters to appease the gods.
(Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Paul
Tait)